Keeping Up With the Van Pelts
by Dolores-the-Dip
Summary: Snippets of Lucy, Linus and Rerun when they're not at each other's throats.


**_Keeping Up With the Van Pelts_**

**_A PEANUTS Fanfiction_**

**_Written by LivingOnLaughs_**

**_Chapter 1: Daily Life_**

* * *

~School Mornings~

* * *

Lucy awoke to the ringing of her alarm clock as she yawned. She had just awoken from her dream of dancing with Schroeder on the beach. The first thing on her mind was to wake Linus and Rerun before their dad left for work.

Slipping on her slippers, Lucy walked into her brothers' room. A few months ago, Linus and Rerun had been crammed into the same room after their mom had found out she was pregnant with baby number 4. "Linus! Rerun!" exclaimed Lucy as she walked towards Linus' bed and yanked the bedsheets off of him without a reaction before snatching his blanket and walking towards Rerun's bed. "Rerun, time to wake up. You're gonna be late for school, you two."

"I'm not going..." Linus murmured. "Both my arms hurt too much. How will I raise my hand when the teacher calls on me?"

"Me neither!" added Rerun as he shot up in bed. "The fat kid in class always pushes me out of my chair. I'm too young to get that traumatized."

Sighing, Lucy had to take things into her own hands. She snickered as she scooped up Rerun before he could hide under his bed and dragged Linus by the leg as she got them to the table. She then prepared three bowls of cereal with milk for them alongside toast.

"I thought we were having pancakes." sulked Rerun.

"We're NOT." Lucy replied.

"If I eat my cereal, can I get a dog?" he wondered.

"NO!" Lucy and Linus shouted.

"Sheesh..." Rerun groaned as he shoved his spoon into his cereal bowl. "I hate Cheerios...why can't we have Lucky Charms or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch?"

"I'd go for Captain Crunch..." Linus confessed.

"We're having Cheerios. End of story!" Lucy replied.

A few minutes later, Lucy had gotten Rerun's clothes from under his bed and put his overalls on his bed. She then took his socks, shirt and underpants an put them in the laundry bin. "The least he can do is learn to put his dirty clothes in the wash..." she groaned as Linus finished tying his shoes. Rerun was finishing up in the bathroom and Lucy could tell because he was flushing the toilet anxiously. "What'd you loose?" she asked.

"My juice box!" Rerun called out. "It fell in!"

"Let it go in the sewer!" Linus groaned.

Rerun groaned. "Can't, Linus. The Ninja Turtles like pizza more than juice. I have to rescue my juice box!"

"Come get dressed!" Lucy bossed. "If the Ninja Turtles don't want the juice box, they'll throw it back."

"If you say so..." the five-year-old sighed as he threw open the middle drawer on the dresser and pulling out a t-shirt, socks and underpants. "Lucy, why do we go to school?" he asked.

"To learn."

"Why?"

"So we get good grades and go to middle school so we can work hard and earn good grades to go to high school so we can work hard and get good grades to go to college and university." Linus explained nonchalantly as he looked out the window. "Bus is here." he added.

"I need help with my overalls..." confessed Rerun.

"Meet you at the bus, Lee." Linus called out as he grabbed his blanket and ran out the front door.

Lucy smiled as she helped Rerun tie his shoes. "Come on, Rerun! Bus is here and I'm gonna claim the spot next to Schroeder!" she exclaimed.

"Good grief..." sighed Rerun. "Only five years old and already living in an army..."

* * *

~Baseball Games~

* * *

"Hey manager!" Lucy called out from right field.

Charlie Brown sighed. "I was afraid of this..."

"Is it true that you're trading me for that stupid girl with the glasses again?"

"No; you and Patty are trading places."

"WHAT?! I'LL BE NEXT TO LINUS! I HATE THAT BLOCKHEAD!"

"Oh good grief..." groaned Linus as Rerun watched from the sidelines. Rerun's attention was on Snoopy-Charlie Brown's shortstop.

"Alright, Marcie, it's your turn to bat." began Peppermint Patty as she handed Marcie the baseball bat. "Now don't strike out, Marcie."

"But aren't strikes good?" wondered Marcie.

"That's bowling, Marcie." the tomboy groaned.

"How dumb can you get?" Lucy scoffed.

"Good grief..." Frieda groaned from center field as Violet face palmed. "She's not even on our team but I worry about her. People with naturally curly hair worry about the other team a lot."

"We know!" Lucy huffed.

Linus sighed as he sat at second base. "So, Roy..." he began.

"Yeah?" asked Roy in confusion.

"What's new?"

"Not much; Pepper's ignoring me like a plague, like always...it's been that way since she met that stupid Marcie."

"I doubt it-Marcie's one smart cookie."

"I hate her for stealing Patty from me."

"Roy, you better run to third base..." Linus coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, right..." and with that, Roy sped off to third base, where Pigpen was waiting while Marcie stumbled before heading to first base.

"Nice going, Marcie!" Peppermint Patty praised.

"Thanks, Sir...I skinned my knee though..." Marcie winced in pain.

"Put some dirt on it to make it feel better." the tomboy suggested.

"Your logic is fascinating, Sir..."

"You're fast." Patty realized.

"Thanks, Pat...I can scamper on my little Bobby Price legs."

"Bobby Price?" Patty wondered. "Oh, you mean Bobby _Orr_."

"Some hockey player." shrugged Marcie before brushing herself up and running off to second base. "Hey Linus..." she flirted as their eyes locked.

"Hi, Marcie." Linus timidly replied before grabbing his blanket and putting it on his head.

"Sally's right in saying you're the cutest thing AND that you have a nice sense of humor..." Marcie giggled.

"Don't get too affectionate..." Charlie Brown suggested before pointing at Sally, sitting next to Rerun and huffing in envy. NO ONE took her Sweet Babboo; not Eudora, not Tapioca Pudding or Mary Jo, not Melody-Melody, not Truffles, not Lydia or Violette and ESPECIALLY not Marcie.

"Sweet Babboo stealer..." pouted Sally as Rerun hugged her. "Thanks for the hug, Rerun." she smiled to herself.

"No problem, Sally." replied Rerun with a huge smile on his face before pulling out a Ring Pop. "Will you marry me?"

"As much as I like you, we're too young, Rerun." she denied.

* * *

~Schoolyard Bullies~

* * *

"Rerun, what's wrong?" Lucy asked, scooping up a sobbing Rerun and cradling him in her arms.

"The fat kid in class bullied me." sniffled Rerun, hiding the gash on his knee and the cuts on his arms, "And some fifth grader beat me up because I'm your brother."

"WHAT?" Lucy gasped, growling. "Who was the fifth grader?"

"I don't know his name." confessed Rerun in defeat.

"Tomorrow, point him out to me, and I'll show him what it means to mess with a Van Pelt!"

"Yes, ma'am!" saluted Rerun.

Lucy kissed Rerun on his forehead before grabbing a first aid kit and patching him up with Band-Aids and ice packs. Linus, who was watching this unravel, put in his two cents.

"You mean Craig?" Linus asked his little brother.

"YES!" Rerun said, trying not to cry.

"It's okay." Lucy soothed. "I'm gonna dim his lights!"

"And I'll help!" Linus exclaimed.

"Me three!" Rerun smiled. "No one hurts me and gets away with it!"

"That's our baby brother." Lucy smiled.

* * *

~Nightmares~

* * *

"NO!" Rerun exclaimed, shooting up in his bed in a cold sweat. "Linus, are you sleeping?"

"I was." Linus yawned as he rolled over to see his worried younger brother. "What happened?"

"I had a nightmare? Can I sleep with you?"

"Of course, Rerun. NOTHING will change that."

"Thanks!"

Linus smiled as he cradled his little brother lovingly before also dozing blissfully.


End file.
